1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a female terminal fitting.
2. Description of the Related Art
A female terminal fitting disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-243076 includes a tubular main body portion (called an “electrical contact portion” Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-243076) into which a male tab is to be inserted, and a resilient contact piece deflectably arranged in the main body portion and to be resiliently brought into contact with the male tab (called a “male terminal” in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-243076) inserted into the main body portion. Further, a part of a side wall of the main body portion is cut and bent inwardly to prevent excessive deflection of the resilient contact piece, thereby forming an excessive deflection preventing piece.
In the above case, since a hole is made on the side wall as the excessive deflection preventing portion is formed, there has been a possibility that an external matter enters the main body portion through the hole. Particularly, since the above hole is located near a contact portion where the resilient contact piece comes into contact with the male tab, there has been a possibility that an external matter having entered through the hole adheres to the contact portion and electrical connection reliability might be impaired.
The present invention was completed based on the above situation and aims to provide a female terminal fitting capable of preventing excessive deflection of a resilient contact piece even without making a hole on a side wall of a main body portion.